Sambodhi 2010 Vol 33

Author(s): J B Shah, K M patel
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 17

Four Minor Royal Dynasties
Hampana Nagarjaiah
1. The Sendrakas : An Early Jaina Family
The Early Sendrakas, the māndalikas of the Banavāsi Kadambas, were forced to subordination by Kirtivarma I (566-96 CE), the Calukya sovereign. Interestingly, this subjugation ended on a happy note. Kīrtivarma married the sister of Srīvallabha Senānanda, chief of the Sendrakavamsa. The celebrated Calukya king Polekesin II (610-42 CE) was born to this Sendraka princess.
The Sendrakas, one of the ancient Ksatriya dynasties, had established themselves as a provincial political force, as early as in the fourth century but ended up only as feudatories. The roots of the Sendrakas are far deeper and go back to the fourth century CE. The Gokāk plates establish that the Sendrakas belonged to the Jaina faith from the beginning. Inscriptions directly connected with the dynasty are not extant and very little has come to light about their genealogy, historical growth and diaspora.
'Sendra' was the name of the forefather of line of Sendrakas. An inscription from Puligeße explicitly makes it clear that Sendra was the foregoer of the dynasty : Bhujagendrānvaya Sendrāvanīndra Santatau [SII. XX. No. 3; IA. VII. pp. 101111], 'in the lineage of king Sendra of the king Cobra race'
Analogous with the Sindas, the Sendrakas were also subordinates to the Calukyas. Mādhava-satti Arasa, an higher officer of Sindarasa of Ādūru belonged to the Sēndrakakula. He had the alias of Mādhavatti and figures in an inscription of 567-68 of Kirtivarma -I. The Sendraka chief's names generally end with the suffixation of /-satti/or/-Śakti/. Evidently-satti is a variant of and derivative from Sanskrit-sakti. Bhānusakti and Vana-satti Arasa were devoted to Harivarman (519-30), the Kadamba king. Adhirāja Indrananda, son Vijayānanda Madhyamarāja, was a favourite of Dejja Mahārāja, king of the pre-Early